THE DESERT ROAD TO TURKESTAN
MELON MERCHANTS OF SINKIANG DO A LIVELY BUSINESS
Grown in enormous numbers and bewildering variety on newly irrigated desert land, these
fruits, which extract from the soil salts injurious to other vegetation, acquire amazing luscious
ness (see text, page 700). They can be cut into strips and dried for winter use, the heat
of the sun being so intense that they are dehydrated without a trace of rot.
sign of light we dug out our camels-one
of them had to be lifted to its feet by three
men-and cleared out of that place. The
tent was so stiff with ice that it could not
be rolled or folded and had to be draped
over a camel.
We had scarcely started when the wind
began again; but this time we were only
on the edge of it, and got away.
A few days later, having completed the
journey of more than 1,600 miles in a
little more than four months, we entered
the gates of the walled city of Kuchengtze.
Traveling day and night in a cart carry-
ing the mails, I covered the remaining 150
miles to Urumchi in three and a half days.
At the latter place I stayed for a
month trying to get a wireless message
to my wife in Peking. The time consumed
in persuading the radio to function was
typical of Chinese Turkestan, the province
farther from the sea than any other coun
try in the world, where life has remained
unchanged for centuries, and the few con
veniences of the modern world seem acci
dental and out of place.
The wireless was installed a number of
years ago by a Western company, under